dyrkie

Hi there Me and my girlfriend yesterday adopted a 2 month old Timneh. It has been very relaxed and is quite happy preening in front of us and seems very sociable. We've got a smallish cage for it while it's young. My girlfriend placed cardboard on the inside of the cage to prohibit him from climbing the sides. Her concern is that his young beak might get damaged by too much climbing initially. I on the other hand feel that not being able to climb must frustrate it somewhat and surely it will know it's own limits? Any thoughts on this? I personally also feel very sorry for a caged animal and am not yet certain what sounds to interpret as happy or distressed. As I'm typing this it's sitting next to me on the desk -listening to Ella Fitzgerals and quietly chirping - which I hope is happy chirps. Actually it seems to be nodding off. The question I guess is - how many hours a day should a young bird be sleeping and in their cage? A final question relates to diet... We are continuing with what the pet store hand-reared it on - which is a porridge like mixture via a syringe - how much and how often should a two-month old Timneh eat? And how much water? It does not seem to need or want to drink too much. Thanks in advance - great forum. Dyrkie